Solar Impulse 2 all set for flight over Pacific Ocean
Print Edition
A SOLAR plane that has been trapped in Japan for three weeks was set to take off for Hawaii in the early hours of this morning, on the most challenging leg of an attempt to circumnavigate the world without using fuel.
“Solar Impulse will attempt to fly to Hawaii (from Nagoya in central Japan) at 2:30am local time,” the team said.
The hazardous trip across the Pacific Ocean is expected to take at least five days and five nights of nonstop flying.
The featherweight flying machine was not supposed to land in Japan on its multi-leg trip around the globe, but bad weather en route from Nanjing in east China to Hawaii forced a diversion at the start of June.
Ever since, the crew has been scouring long-range forecasts for an opportunity to restart the record-breaking journey.
Pilot Andre Borschberg, who flew for 44 hours to get to Nagoya, was set to be back at the controls for today’s flight.
Winds and turbulence tend to be calmer in the very early hours of the morning, Solar Impulse team spokeswoman Elke Neumann said, making this time ideal for takeoffs.
“The batteries are full so the plane can fly any time. Since the sun comes up early in Japan, we are flying early ... we fly much earlier, so we have much more time in the air,” she said.
Borschberg, a 62-year-old Swiss, will keep in shape during his solo flight by doing yoga.
“I train special postures, which I do every day in the cockpit ... to keep the right mental attitude,” he said earlier.
But he admitted that being cooped up in the 3.8-cubic- meter cockpit for long stretches of time was a challenge.
Solar Impulse 2 set off from Abu Dhabi earlier this year in a multi-leg attempt to get all the way around the world without a single drop of fuel.
The trip to Hawaii will be the eighth and most daunting leg.
The plane has 17,000 solar cells and on-board rechargeable batteries. Its top speed is 140kph.
The plane is the successor to Solar Impulse, which managed a 26-hour flight in 2010, proving its ability to store enough power in lithium batteries during the day to keep flying at night.
Ridiculed by the aviation industry when it was first unveiled, the venture has since been hailed around the world.
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